User blog:Redpuppy47/THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES REVIEW - MAJOR SPOILERS
MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!! This is rather nostalgic for me, continuing a trend I started 2 years and 4 days ago, of annually posting a review of the latest Hobbit film. The first two installments can be found here (AUJ) and here (DOS). I saw "BOTFA" on the 12th, the day it came out in UK cinemas, and in my opinion it was noticeably tremendous. I'll be talking about it as mostly a hybrid of the first two formats. Also there might be one or two instances of swearing. After all, this film has Billy Connolly in it. REVIEW BEGINS HERE. FINAL CHANCE SPOILERS General Impressions Immersive. Definitely the word I'd use to describe The Battle of the Five Armies. Due to an extreme workload in leading up to it, I had less time to look forward to it this year, which helped a lot as I was able to view it was a mostly clear head. I DIDN'T CRY!!! I always cry watching RotK. Well, I've got a bit better now but I always start going eventually! Visual Impressions I'm extremely impressed with the Destruction of Lake-town and also the Battle. Not so with Legolas' video-game like stunts where he defies gravity (actually he does this twice, for a long time, but with very different scenarios). Also I'm disappointed with the way the final parting of Bilbo and Gandalf was careless and rushed, with it being uncharacteristacally easy to tell it's just a scale double in the long shot of Bilbo and being able to see someone mysterious (pretty sure it's a crew member but I really want a good look at it next time I go) in the reflection of his brooch. Loved the scene in general though, and the film looked good throughout. Content The content was excellent IMO. Delighted with the way they included such things as the auction and so many references to both AUJ and FotR. Wonderful. As a side note, the music I loved, but I found the best tunes were the ones we only heard one bar of. There were two of these in particular that almost made me tear up in a way, the first being the White Council's combat music, a very dramatic variation on the Rivendell/Lorien theme which I loved. There was also, at the end, when Thranduil is telling Legolas about Aragorn, a faint and slightly softer version of the Fellowship's theme, which just destroyed what remained of my emotions. The Deaths Ya kinda got to talk about the deaths. Having read the book and knowing Thorin, Fili and Kili all die, it was hard enough for me to watch AUJ and DOS without feeling sad, and harder still to avoid spoiling it for those who haven't read it. I loved the way it happened with Fili and somewhat with Kili, although having both (not to mention Thorin) stabbed in the chest in an identical way, which doesn't make you feel as sad, was a terrible choice. Thorin's actual death was fantastic, but his last fight with Azog was great in terms of drama and setting, yet not so in logic. A bit unbelievable that Thorin would be content just to stand there and watch his clearly not-dead nemesis drift underneath his iceberg. Odd. Bests Best character: Dain. Played by Billy Connolly. Was in the film for about 7 or so minutes but stole the show entirely. Best line: Dain's simple battle speech, a very Glaswegian "LET'S GIVE THESE BASTARDS A GOOD HAMMERING!" which makes you proud to be from Glasgow. Most awesome move: Thranduil and his Elk combine to behead about 5 orcs at once... Best scene: Tough one. I'd say it's between The White Council in Dol Guldur, the Destruction of Lake-town, Dain arrives, the auction (and the frankly amazing transition from The Hobbit to LOTR) and Bilbo's thinking time (there are two of these, kinda, in one of which we find he actually picked up the Arkenstone in DOS). I feel good having done this now :) I guess you could say it's come full circle since I started it 2 years ago. Category:Blog posts